This invention relates to a stereoscopic viewer of the type used to position a pair of stereoscopic views in proper alignment in front of a pair of viewing lenses.
Stereoscopic viewers or stereoscopes have been in use for some time, and have been patented since at least as as the 1890's. The following patents all disclose specific stereoscope structures.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor ______________________________________ 502,450 Wagner 1,024,613 Berger 1,097,601 Maerz 2,018,739 Pauchek 2,131,444 Lateltin 2,187,765 Walter 2,757,573 Turner 2,821,884 Austin 2,984,153 Brennan 3,391,971 Kaufman 4,730,898 Curtin 4,789,220 Kinnard ______________________________________
In each case the viewer includes an arrangement for supporting a view card bearing a pair of stereoscopic views in a spaced relationship to a pair of lenses. The user looks through the lenses at the stereoscopic views to create the illusion of a three dimensional view.
The structure of the stereoscopic viewer can have an important effect on how easily the viewer can create the three dimensional illusion. For example, if the viewer does not hold the views in the optimal position with respect to the lenses, it may be more difficult for the viewer to obtain the three dimensional illusion. For this reason, it is important that the viewer be relatively rigid and that it support the views in the proper position with respect to the lenses.
Furthermore, for at least some users it is easier to create the stereoscopic illusion if the viewer presents an uncluttered field of view, thereby allowing the user to concentrate on the view itself, rather than extraneous features of the viewer.
Thirdly, I have noticed that a septum panel extending between the views from the lenses to the views can help to isolate one view from the other and make the viewer itself easier to use.
None of the prior art stereoscopic viewers disclosed in the patents identified above is optimized to provide the three functions described above. For example, Brennan U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,153 does not provide any type of septum panel extending between the views. Furthermore, the view panel simply hangs from a rod but is not braced against movement out of the desired plane. Walter U.S. Pat. No. 2,187,765 does provide a septum panel between the lenses and the views, but the field of view of the user is relatively cluttered by extraneous edges and surfaces of the viewer itself. Maerz U.S. Pat. No. 1,097,601 and Berger U.S. Pat. No. 1,024,613 both disclose folding stereoscopes. The Berger device includes a pair of upstanding panels that support the viewer panel and act as partitions between the pictures. However, with this arrangement the view panel containing the stereoscopic pictures is supported against twisting only at its central portion where it passes through the partitions. The same can be said of the stereoscope disclosed in Maerz. which additionally does not have a panel extending from the lenses to the View panel between the pictures.
Kaufman U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,971 discloses a foldable cardboard stereoscopic viewer which uses a relatively complex arrangement including bands to hold the view panel in place in the viewer.